GDA praises rights activists for protesting against canals plan

Central leaders of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have paid tribute to the women rights activists who in addition to marching for their rights on the occasion of International Women's Day on Saturday also took to the streets to agitate against the plans to build new irrigation canals on the Indus River at the cost of water rights of the people of Sindh.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, GDA leaders Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashdi, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Syed Zain Shah, Dr Fahmida Mirza, and Sardar Abdul Rahim also paid tribute to the representatives of lawyers in Sindh who had taken to the streets against the controversial plan to build new canals on Indus River. The GDA leaders said the concerned people of Sindh had fully mobilised to stiffly oppose the plans to build new irrigation canals on the Indus River. They urged the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) elected representatives to unequivocally oppose the new canals' plans in the National Assembly and Senate.

They alleged that the hypocritical politics of the ruling PPP in Sindh had harmed the legitimate interests of the people of Sindh. The GDA leaders said the PPP had failed to oppose the new canals project at the relevant constitutional forums, including the Council of Common Interests. They also condemned violent police action and the lodging of criminal cases by police against varsity students who had protested for their rights.